A Personal Peccadillo about how we refer to Puerto Rico

This week, “Hamilton” opens on Broadway. Patrick Healy of the New York Times refers to the musical as:

[T]he groundbreaking new musical about the founding fathers.

Which is fine. The article juxtaposes the narrative of the show with the upcoming GOP debate that happens the same night. But then Mr. Healy refers to the show’s author as,

Lin-Manuel Miranda, a close student of politics as the son of a Puerto Rican immigrant who became a powerful Democratic strategist in New York.

Except Puerto Rican immigrants DO NOT EXIST. Any more than there are immigrants from Alaska, Hawaii, or Idaho.

All persons born in Puerto Rico on or after April 11, 1899, and prior to January 13, 1941, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, residing on January 13, 1941, in Puerto Rico or other territory over which the United States exercises rights of sovereignty and not citizens of the United States under any other Act, are declared to be citizens of the United States as of January 13, 1941. All persons born in Puerto Rico on or after January 13, 1941, and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, are citizens of the United States at birth.